Sir Ian HolmCBE (born September 12, 1931) is an English award-winning actor known for his stage work and for many film roles, including the hobbitBilbo Baggins in the first and third films of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Father Vito Cornelius in The Fifth Element and the android Ash in Alien.

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Holm was born Ian Holm Cuthbert in Goodmayes, Essex, the son of "relatively elderly" Scottish parents Jean Holm, a nurse, and Dr. James Harvey Cuthbert, a psychiatrist who worked as the superintendent of the West Ham Corporation Mental Hospital and was also a pioneer of electric shock therapy. He had an older brother, Eric. Holm was educated at Chigwell School and then the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Holm has been married four times. In 1991 he married his third wife, popular actress Penelope Wilton, and they appeared together in The Borrowers (1993) on British television. They divorced in 2001. He is currently married to artist Sophie de Stempel, a protégé and life model of Lucian Freud.

Holm has five children (three daughters and two sons) from three women, amongst others the first two of his four wives. His eldest daughter, Jessica, is presenter of the "Crufts Dog Show". Sarah-Jane Holm played Jenny Rodenhurst Simcock in A Bit of a Do. Barnaby Holm acted as a child but now lives in Los Angeles as a Hollywood club owner, while Harry Holm is a filmmaker most notable for his music videos. Melissa Holm is a casting director.

He was awarded a CBE in 1990 was made a Knight Bachelor in 1998 for Services to Drama.

He was treated for prostate cancer in 2001, which currently appears to be in complete remission.